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1811 was regarded at the time as the greatest vintage in living memory, and is now universally held to be the finest vintage of the 19th century throughout the vineyards of Western Europe. 

A long hot summer and a warm dry autumn meant an abundant harvest of perfectly ripe grapes, from Bordeaux to Burgundy, from the Rheingau to the vineyards of Tokaji. In Cognac, the folle blanche reached an unequalled level of perfection, and the distillers knew that they were dealing with a once in a lifetime harvest. In the same year, Napoleon himself visited the region, and was presented with a barrel of cognac as a gift for his young son.

Many ascribed the extraordinary weather to the remarkable astronomical event that had dominated the year - The Great Comet. The comet was visible by astronomers for 17 months, but for two months - September and October 1811, exactly the time grapes were harvested - it was clearly visible to the naked eye, illuminating the night sky with a coma that at one point exceeded the diameter of the sun. It was taken as sign of supernatural blessing on the harvest, which henceforth was known as
"The Comet Vintage".

 

 

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Vintage Report

There were perfect growing conditions and the picking began in Bordeaux on September 14th. The vintage was reported to be magnificent and abundant. "It sometimes happens that a good vintage is glorified by the appearance of a comet. One such year was 1630, but 1811, more famous.... is the vintage usually referred to as the comet year." (Alexis Lichine's Encyclopaedia of Wines & Spirits); "wines so marvellous that they defied superlatives" (H. Warner Allen) A History of Wine). Lafite "drinking gracefully at 115 years of age" (Maurice Healey Stay Me with Flagons) was considered to be the finest red Bordeaux ever made and the pioneer of great vintage clarets, and ranked historically by H. Warner Allen, with the Opimian vintage of 121 B.C.

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Vintage Report

The precious bottle of 1811 Château d’Yquem became the world's most valuable bottle of white wine, after it was sold for £75,000.
So whoever is eventually charged with opening it - if Mr Vanneque decides to - will need to be incredibly careful with the delicate drink and hope that they don't drop the cork inside.


The 1811 Chateau d’Yquem has earned its hefty price tag after critics raved about it. The costly tipple is prized as one of the greatest wines in the history of Bordeaux and one of the most supreme vintages ever produced. It was rated the ultimate ‘100 points’ by wine critic Robert Parker and again 100 points by The Wine Spectator's Per-Henrik Mansson in 1999. But the 200-year-old bottle had to go through rigorous checks to establish its huge value.

The bottle was accompanied by a ’record of inspection’ and the label was examined and compared to the 1811 paper labels held in the files at the chateau. An inspection of the glass bottle confirmed that the shape, punt and colour appeared to be in accordance with other examples previously seen from the early vintages of the 19th century. In 1811, the Flaugergues Comet (aka The Great Comet of 1811) passed by the earth. Now 1811 has become the most well known of the so-called 'Comet Vintages.'
 

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The best wines of the 1811 vintage

Name Tb Producer Location
1 d'Yquem 100 Château d'Yquem Bordeaux, France
2 Lafite-Rothschild 94 Château Lafite-Rothschild Bordeaux, France
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